Of Plus Signs, Old Houses & Unexpected Surpises
by Little-Angry-Kitten
Summary: Dimitri tagged her into his arms and just like that, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. Yes, her parents were gone, had been for years, but she wasn't alone. She had never been alone, really. Adrian and Syd, Lissa, Victor and now Dimitri. On that single moment, she swore to never shut out anyone again. Sequel to Black Hearts & Bitter Endings/Of Roses and Their Sharp Thorns


A/N: I have been planning this story for four years. Four years! I am terrible, I know. A few things I've realized while writing this, one it feels like I've been writing fanfiction since forever and two I am getting too old to be pulling all-nighters to finish something! Have a happy new year guys!

* * *

Rose's eyes rested on the small plus sign for a few long moments. After the brief panic that settled over her as soon as the five minutes were up, a newfound numbness took over. Because honestly, she has no idea how she should feel about this. It had been almost two years since she got back with Dimitri and while they were in an established relationship, kids never came up in their discussions.

Dimitri's transition from being a man of the shadows to mingling with her world hadn't been easy but it was definitely worth it. Between his wicked charm and her quick snark they put a lot of people in their place and made clear to everyone that their personal life was not up for discussion. As for the ones that thought they could harm either of them with Dimitri's past, Rose hadn't been afraid to snap a few necks. No one of them was as clean as they'd like to believe, they had no right to judge her boyfriend.

What really established Dimitri into her world though was his weird friendship with Ivan Zeklos. A few months after they got together Dimitri was looking for a job to keep him busy. He made enough money from the company he co-owned with Eddie but he really did need something else to keep him busy. They had talked about a lot of options but Rose encouraged him into the one she believed fit him best. A long time ago she had read some things he had written, small parts here and there, so she pushed him towards that direction. She knew talent when she saw it.

Just as she suspected within three months Dimitri came to an amazing story and when he send the first draft to Adrian her cousin went through the roof. Another three long months of edits and rewrites later 'The Rose Garden' hit the bookstore shelves like a hurricane. Apparently, Ivan had read it too and wanted to meet the man behind it. They had been inseparable since then. Something that made Rose very happy because she really liked Ivan. Especially after his divorce from Natasha he had become a different person. Calmer and kinder, Rose was really happy for him.

So their lives went on, between running her company, Dimitri's next book and hanging out with their families she hadn't thought about the possibility of having kids at some point. She loved Robert and Dimitri's nieces and nephews had grown on her but she didn't exactly saw herself as a mother.

 _That was impossible, right?_

She was too messed up to be anyone's mothers.

* * *

Rose could tell that if she was going to keep the baby this wouldn't be easy. She already felt dizzy and nauseous and from what she had read after a quick search on the internet it would only get worse. It could also go away the article said but with her luck, she'd be bed bound until she gave birth. She stopped herself right there, too early to think about that. For all, she knew Dimitri might not even want the baby.

 _'Don't be ridiculous.'_ A small voice inside her head scowled her. She had seen the way he looked at her when she was holding Robert. Rose was pretty sure that if he had his way they'd have a whole dozen of children. Which wasn't bad per se, she did want to have a family eventually she just wasn't sure she was ready right now. Them again Sydney claimed that you were never ready for children. Everyone went in completely clueless. It put her mind at ease a little.

To be honest if Rose could be half the parent her mother and father were to her this child would turn out pretty awesome. Not to mention how good of a job Olena had done with Dimitri. Employment choices aside her boyfriend was raised to be the perfect gentleman and Rose could see why when she finally met his family. Growing up with not one but five women around him Dimitri came to respect them a lot. Especially ones like his mother that came out of abusive relationships and managed to rise above them. Rose was in awe for the older woman. She was the closest thing to a mother Rose had in a long while.

"Roza." Dimitri's voice brought her out of her thoughts and her eyes flew open.

"Bedroom!" She called but made no move, still dizzy. The hotel suite wasn't that big, he could come to her. Not much had changed the last two years, to be honest. Mainly because Rose hated changes. She knew at some point she had to find an actual apartment but constantly put it off. They shared their time between staying at her suite and Dimitri's flat and that had been enough so far.

"I brought dinner." He whispered suddenly right beside her, his lips dropping on her forehead.

"How did your meeting go?" Ivan wanted to expand his business and cross into movie producing and he wanted to do it with a bang. So he though his best chance was to turn Dimitri's very successful first book into the next big box office. Which was why he was trying to convince Dimitri to one, sell him the rights to the movie and two write the screenplay. Rose could see Ivan's reasoning. He didn't want to take any chances with anyone screwing this up.

"Good." Dimitri took a seat beside her. "Ivan's all over the place and talks a big game but you know me. I don't get excited about things." He said pushing a few stray strands of hair away from her face. "You look pale." He stated simply after a few seconds.

"I have some news." She smiled weakly.

"Good news or bad news?" He asked now, concern coloring his voice.

"Depends." She pushed herself up, her back resting against the headboard. Dimitri regarded with a serious look and Rose took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

 _Silence._

Rose took her time studying him as he processed her words. A small part of her was scared he would run away but this wasn't him. Rose was sure they would work something out together. So lost was she in her own little world that his lips on hers took her by surprise. She returned the kiss with just as much passion.

"Those are the best news you could give me." He murmured pulling back, resting his forehead against hers. His face sobered when he took in her expression. "Unless if you don't think the same?" Dimitri asked unsurely.

"Yes. No." She shook her head. "I don't know how I feel about this." She fell back against her pillows throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Roza." He pushed her gently and slide into bed beside her. "Talk to me." He ordered and she turned to face him. Even after so long, there still were moments when she bottled up stuff. It took him a while but Dimitri found a way to make her open up.

"I guess I'm scared." She shrugged.

"Of what?" He snuck an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Honestly?" Her fingers wrapped around his. "Of everything that might go wrong. You leaving, me becoming a shitty parent, us dying as my parents did." Dimitri rolled his eyes, dropping another kiss on her forehead.

"First of all, I would be insane to leave you for someone else." He chastised. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror? I'm not going anywhere unless you kick me out." He punctured his words with a soft kiss. She smiled and buried her face against his chest. "Second you can't be a shitty parent even if you want to, not with the way your own parents raised you." That was kind of true, Abe and Janine had been very hands-on in her upbringing and they passed a lot of their traits to her. "And third, I can't possibly know what will happen in the future but I do know this; if we decide to keep this baby and something is to ever happen to us he or she won't be left alone. Neither mamma nor Adrian and Syd are going to let our child by themselves." Something settled inside of her at the mention of their family and she breathed more easily now. They laid in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.

"I'll make an appointment with my doctor." She said eventually and Dimitri nodded in understanding.

This decision was mostly on her.

* * *

"Everything seems fine so far." Dr. Olendzki smiled and patted her thigh. She stole a glance at Dimitri's face and tears prickled her eyes. He looked awestruck like an entirely new world was revealed before him. "You're six weeks along so not much to say yet." Her doctor took her gloves off and excused herself to give them some privacy.

"Talk to me, Comrade." She whispered and his eyes finally snapped back to hers. His lips found hers a moment later and Rose melted into the kiss, letting her arms wrap around his neck. "I take it you're happy?" She breathed as they pulled apart, their eyes returning back to the black and white screen. They could barely spot the black dot that was their baby.

"Happy can't begin to cover it." He smiled back at her, lacing their fingers together. His eyes searched hers for a moment and then he sighed. "Roza," he cupped her cheek and forced her to look at him. "I want this more than you can ever imagine but this is a decision we have to make together. It doesn't matter if I'm happy if you can't join me. Do you understand that?" She nodded, a new wave of tears filling her eyes. His words made her heart want to burst from love. There wouldn't be a better man to chose to father her future children. She would never be ready for a responsibility like this, no one was, but she would have Dimitri by her side come hell or high water.

"Let's do this." She said finally and pulled him for another kiss. Would it be easy? Hell no, but they had each other. There wasn't anything they couldn't do together.

* * *

They left Dr. Olendzki's office with instructions to come back in a few weeks and a prescription of vitamins she would need. The doctor has also advised a lot of rest because she knew Rose tended to overwork herself. She wasn't alone anymore and she needed to take it easy to minimize the stress on the baby.

Which only gave Dimitri an excuse to spoil her more. Not that Rose would ever complain about that. Early on in their relationship, she found out that she really enjoyed lazy days with Dimitri on his couch. He got to work on his writing while she curled on his other side answering annoying emails from even more annoying people that couldn't handle anything by themselves. She had no idea why she paid them all that money when they couldn't decide on a simple investment without her taking a look.

"I was thinking," she murmured stealing a glance at him and he hummed in answer, not taking his eyes from his laptop. "That we probably need to find a new place." That finally got his full attention and Dimitri raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean we can't keep moving between your place and the hotel and to be honest a suite is not exactly the best place to raise a child. We'll need to settle down and have our space, build a nursery."

"I'm so happy you brought this up." His smile was genuine as he put his laptop aside and pulled her in his arms. "I actually have something in mind but nothing is set in stone yet."

"Care to share?" She prompted but he shook his head.

"I want it to be a surprise." She could hear the excitement in his voice. "Can you give me some time to work it out?" Rose laughed softly and nodded. He pulled her in for another kiss and work was forgotten for the rest of the day.

* * *

"I don't understand why it's called morning sickness if I have it all day." She whined trying to stop the room from spinning. Her doctor had said that it was normal to feel a bit nauseous the first couple of weeks. It didn't mean that she was going to enjoy it though. They had decided to keep their news quiet until the first trimester passed. Rose wanted to be sure that everything would be alright before they'd let their family know.

"Is there anything I can do?" Dimitri offered and leaned over her to press a kiss on her forehead but Rose rolled away from him.

"Yes, throw away your aftershave." She sprang out of bed and run to the bathroom. He was right behind her, rubbing her back and pulling her hair away from her face. "Seriously though," she heaved "throw away the aftershave." Dimitri took a step back and gave her a bit of space.

"Do you want some ginger tea?" He offered as she nodded resting her head against the cool porcelain of the toilet bowl.

This was going to be a long nine months, she thought as she returned back to bed. Not even born yet and their baby clearly took after her. Rose had a way of always causing trouble. They would have their hands full. She turned on her side and for a moment her eyes fell on a black folder Dimitri had rested on the bedside table. She wasn't the kind of girlfriend to snoop around but her curiosity got the best of her. Dimitri rarely carried papers with him, preferring the digital alternative.

She scanned the pages quickly and her breath caught. Memories came rushing back and Rose felt tears well up in her eyes. She cried a lot the last couple of weeks, apparently another side effect of a little alien growing inside of you. She studied pictures of what used to be her old family home, flipping through every image barely giving time to herself to process the information.

"Ah." Dimitri's awkward cough snapped her out of it. "I was going to talk to you about that." He gestured shyly to the folder on her lap.

"How did you get a hold of these?" Her tone was even, she expected to feel betrayed, annoyed, anything along those lines. All she could find was curiosity and bittersweet memories. She had sold the house during a temper tantrum she had when Dimitri had left her. Victor had mentioned something about her moving back in and Rose had gone ballistic. Back then she thought she'd never had a happy ending so a house wasn't really necessary.

What she also wasn't ready to face back then was the fact that she had seen herself build a life with Dimitri. Even in that state their relationship, there used to be a small part of her that had daydreamed and made plans. Selling the house made her think her pain would go away. Instead, it became worse, to the point where sometimes she wished she hadn't let go of it.

"Victor gave them to me," Dimitri admitted. He and Victor had developed an understanding when it came to Rose and she loved them for it. They both wanted to keep her happy and when they put their heads together there wasn't something they couldn't do. "He was the one that bought the townhouse. He wanted to make sure that if you ever wanted to go back you'd be able to." He rushed to explain. "When I went to him regarding us finding a new place he handed me the keys."

"That old fart." She sobbed quietly and he took a seat beside her, wrapping his arms around her. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, soothing her. He had been nothing but wonderful this whole time. She was truly one lucky asshole.

"Of course I'd like to change a few things." He suggested pulling up a new sketch. "I want to keep as many things as possible from your childhood but I want to also make the townhouse a home for the three of us." His hand came to rest on her still flat stomach and Rose smiled widely.

"I really don't deserve you." She murmured between pulls of their lips. "But seriously, throw away your aftershave." Dimitri laughed and got up heading to the bathroom.

It looked like he was in need of a shower.

* * *

She had been standing outside the townhouse for the past hour. It took Dimitri another month or so to get the first few rooms ready for them. He worked tirelessly for hours and hours in order to create a home for them. She didn't have the courage to peak into what he was planning. He wanted this to be a gift for her anyway and Rose would never spoil his fun. So she let him decide the right moment to reveal everything to her. But now that they were before its doors her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest.

Rose hadn't been back here since the fateful night she snuck out. She refused adamantly to step foot in after the accident. Victor had suggested she be the one to pack up her parents' stuff. To get some kind of closure but the wound in her chest was still fresh and bleeding. She had lost both parents in one night, her entire world had been ripped away from her. Lissa had even offered to help her in hopes of making it easier. But Rose made it loud and clear that she would never, ever visit this house again.

That's when Adrian stepped in and took the task upon himself. The day that happened Rose realized two things, how much her cousin loved her and that she would always have someone even if her parents weren't here. They had made sure Rose would be able to lean on another person when she needed help. And God had Adrian helped her, even when she wasn't aware of it. Dimitri wouldn't be in her life if her cousin hadn't step in to fix the mess they had created.

"Roza." Dimitri's hand rested against her lower back. "I know it's hard for you but we need to go in." She nodded silently grabbing the keys he tangled in front of her.

"You'll be there with me?" It was meant to be a statement but her doubts and fears came back full force.

"Always." He assured her and laced his fingers with hers. Her shoulders relaxed a bit and she finally took the first step up the stairs. Her breath hitched when they finally passed the threshold.

 _She was home._

Memories flooded back and for just a brief second she felt overwhelmed. Mornings eating breakfast with her parents, Janine and Abe kissing in front of the door before parting to head to work, birthday parties, Christmas dinners, her, Lissa and Adrian running up and down the stairs on Thanksgiving a very long time ago. Hot, fat tears run down her cheeks and this time she wouldn't blame them on hormones. It was just plain pain and sadness over what she lost, over what could have been.

"I'm here, Roza." Dimitri tagged her into his arms and just like that, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. Yes, her parents were gone, had been for years, but she wasn't alone. She had never been alone, really. Adrian and Syd, Lissa, Victor and now Dimitri and the baby. On that single moment, she swore to never shut out anyone again. She had wasted enough time not living, her parents wouldn't want that.

"Show me what you've done." She finally whispered against his chest. Pulling back she frowned. "I got snot all over your shirt." Dimitri just laughed.

"Thank god we have enough money to buy more." He teased.

"I'd prefer you without one." She offered and their eyes locked for a moment before they burst into laughter.

* * *

The townhouse had been emptied years ago by Adrian. That meant Dimitri had a blank canvas to decorate. He had tried to integrate as much of her childhood as he could. Both Victor and Adrian had been kind enough to hand over all the photo albums they had saved so Dimitri could pick photos to decorate the walls. Rose's favorite part had been the walls in the hallways between rooms. While the rooms themselves had been kept to a minimalistic motive Dimitri had filled the hallways with photo frames of different sizes. Pictures of her as a child, of her parents, of summer vacations with Lissa and Adrian, of Dimitri's family. She had spent hours looking over them.

She would never be able to thank him enough for what he'd done. He took her old house, kept only the good parts and turned it into their own. They'd spend the rest of their lives here, much as her parents had done. They'd raise kids within those walls, they'd host Christmas parties and Thanksgiving dinners. They'd have breakfast every morning before work and would make love every night reminding each other how hard they worked to get here.

She smoothed down her dress and her hands curled around her lower stomach. There was a small bump there, she had just started feeling small flutters. Rose had been beyond freaked out the first time it happened and Dimitri had spent hours teasing her about it. Now that the first trimester of pregnancy was through their doctor had cleared them to share the news with the rest of their family. They had been cautious about it, not wanting to get everyone's hopes up if this didn't work out.

With 4th of July around the corner, it was the perfect opportunity to have everyone over. The excuse was to celebrate them finally moving to a new house. In reality, they had a much bigger surprise. Even Dimitri's family flew in for the big event. This would be the very first time the entire family would be brought in one place. Usually Rose and Dimitri would be the ones to visit the Belikovas in Alaska, the irony wasn't lost on Rose. Dimitri's sisters had come down to New York in a few separate occasions and met her family too but they had never been on the same place at the same time before.

Olena had not stopped cooking all day and had roped Dimitri into helping her with it. The few times Rose tried to do anything she was shooed away. Dimitri knew very well the kind of disaster she could create in a kitchen. They had found out one very cold night when she tried to make pasta and managed to burn them.

"Hello, beautiful." Dimitri wrapped his arms around her, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. His hands immediately covered hers over her stomach. Rose was sure Olena was suspecting something but didn't want to pressure them into sharing news they weren't ready. "Dinner's ready and people have started coming. Ready to join us?" Rose turned in his arms and claimed his lips in a deep kiss. Dimitri groaned and picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he pushed her against the wall.

"What if I want to stay here?" She teased between pulls of their lips.

"Roza." He growled grinding against her and she moaned softly. "You'll be the death of me!" She smiled quickly unbuttoning his jeans and only pushing necessary clothes out of the way.

"But what a way to go!" She smirked before his lips claimed hers.

* * *

Dinner had been a family affair for sure. Olena had occupied one end of the table as the head of the Belikov family and Victor the other as the father figure in Rose's life. It had been a bittersweet moment for Rose, she'd like to have had her parents here too but that wasn't possible. She still believed they were here in spirit, a part of their souls would always be within the halls of this house and Rose was happy that Victor for once did not follow her orders.

"If I can have your attention for a moment," Adrian's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Her cousin's gaze met hers and if his grin got any bigger his face would split in two. "I'd like to take a minute and thank Dimitri's family for traveling all the way here to be with us. Especially Olena for spending her precious vacation time cooking just so I can get fat." Everyone laughed and Olena saluted him with her glass of wine. "But most of all I want to thank Dimitri," He added and the air shifted a bit, becoming more serious. "I speak for all of us when I say that we couldn't be happier Rose chose you to spend the rest of her life with. Abe and Janine would be proud of both of you." Coming from her cousin, those words were priceless for Rose. She felt Dimitri's hand reach for hers under the table and she squeezed back. "To Rose and Dimitri!"

"To Rose and Dimitri!" Everyone echoed. No one noticed that she hadn't had a drink so far, Olena's food providing the perfect distraction to delay the surprise just a tiny bit more. Dimitri's mother was the one to bring it to attention.

"You don't like white wine, Roza?" She asked mischievously and Rose's lips stretched in a wide smiling at the mention of the nickname Dimitri had established for her.

"Oh, I love it!" Rose gushed and a moment later Sydney's eyes snapped to her. Of course, she'd be the first to figure it out. "But unfortunately I have to pass up on the offer." She could feel Dimitri vibrating with joy beside her as their family realized what she had just said. The cheers came moments later followed by hugs and congratulations.

* * *

Weeks passed with Dimitri and Rose blissfully locked in their little tower. Dr. Olendzki had assured them that the baby was meeting all milestones and that the pregnancy progressed absolutely fine. The morning sickness had thankfully all but disappeared and was now replaced by the fact that Rose would not be able to bend over for while. She could still see her toes but was struggling with being able to put on her on shoes. Dimitri had to help her most of the time and he was having the time of his life teasing her.

They had opted for not knowing the baby's gender so making plans for the nursery had been tricky. She had spent countless hours pinning shit on Pinterest and exchanging pictures with Sydney and Lissa but nothing seemed right. They wanted to keep the colors neutral but couldn't decide on a theme. Dimitri's mother finally came to the rescue, suggesting a soft green for the walls and they took it from there. That's how they found themselves a chilly September afternoon painting walls and putting together furniture. Adrian was getting in touch with his artistic side painting tree branches and birds while Dimitri was wrestling with instructions he didn't want to follow.

"Have you thought about your maternity leave?" Sydney asked as they were folding onesies together. The guys had banned them from the room within the first hour of trying to put everything together. Rose shouldn't be anywhere close to the paints and Sydney had started annoying Adrian by pointing out how he was using the wrong brush to create the trunk of the tree. Dimitri had picked up a six-pack and Adrian had closed the door behind them making Rose roll her eyes.

"Actually," Rose said taking a sip from her tea. "I talked with Adrian about it and he will have to take over my office while I'm gone." There wasn't anyone else that Rose would trust to leave behind. Victor was a good candidate but he had declined the offer, claiming he worked better when he blended into the background. That only left Adrian and if he agreed to that he would have to leave his place on the publishing house for a few months while Rose was recovering. "I'll stay home for a while and when the baby is old enough Dimitri will take over since he's self-employed." It was the most logical thing, Dimitri was his own man and could work from their house. That meant he'd able to care for their baby and they could always get a part-time babysitter when he needed to work on a book.

"What about the publishing house?" Sydney's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"About that," Rose's lips stretched into a warm smile. "We were thinking that since Robert is almost two maybe you'd like to come back to work?" Sydney and Adrian had met through his work and Rose knew how much it meant to both of them. Her cousin used to be one of the most sought out bachelors out there. Add Sydney to the mix as the only female that did not care and you have a recipe for success. Adrian had a huge ego and Sydney knew how to take it down a notch. They were a perfect storm.

"Really?" Sydney's face light up. "I mean we were talking about me going back to work I would never think of-"

"We want you." Rose cut her off and squeezed her hand. "This is still a family business and there's no one else Adrian and I would trust more with the task." It was true, Sydney had worked in the publishing house both as a member of the team there and as a consultant. There wasn't anyone else out there more qualified or willing to keep their material in the high standards it always was.

"Thank you," Sydney said and pulled Rose into a tight hug.

* * *

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around Rose felt like she was about to burst. With a little over a month before her due date, she had finally lost view of her toes completely and any position she would sit or lay was uncomfortable at best. Dimitri had been right there by her side the entire time and that was what made the difference. Tatianna and Victor were hosting the family dinner this year and Rose couldn't be more thankful. She was all for doing absolutely nothing and just stuffing her face. She had taken the whole 'eating for two' thing literally.

"Ready?" Dimitri asked as he poked his head into the living room. She had been sitting on the couch for the past half hour if someone could roll her all the way to Victor's house she would be the happiest pregnant woman ever.

"Will you carry me?" She whined rubbing a hand over her bulging stomach. The baby had been overly excited today, stretching and jumping on her bladder. Dimitri smiled kneeling before her, his own hand finding hers.

"If you want me to." He pecked her lips and just as he was about to pull back she slipped her fingers into his hair and deepen the kiss. "Marry me?" He murmured as they parted in need of air. Her eyes fell on her ring finger as he slipped the platinum band around her finger. A round diamond sat at the top of it, perfectly cut blue opals framing it. "Marry me." He repeated again and Rose felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Yes!" She breathed and her lips collided with his once more.

They were late for dinner.

No one really minded.

* * *

As the weeks went by and she drew closer to her due date Rose realized how much she wished she had her mom with her. There were so many things books or the internet couldn't tell you. It was different sharing this moment with your mother and Rose had witnessed it first hand. She was there when Sydney had Robert, she had seen how Sydney's mom had guided her through the first steps of motherhood. Rose yearned to have this with her own mother. Olena had been willing to talk her through everything and had offered to be here for the baby's birth but it didn't feel the same. Rose loved the older woman to bits but she wasn't her mother. Olena could never take Janine's place no matter what.

She rubbed a hand over he lower stomach trying to ease the annoying pain. She had been having Braxton hicks for the last couple of weeks but her doctor had assured them it was fine. The tightening on her muscles seem to come and go but nothing moved further than that. Boy, was it fun watching Dimitri freaking out! Her fiancé for all his cool and collected persona was scared shitless about her giving birth. Not that Rose was any better, no matter how many times Sydney had tried to calm her down she still got the occasional panic attack when she thought about pushing a small watermelon out of her. Turns out making babies is way more fun than actually giving birth to them.

She watched as Dimitri decorated their Christmas tree, placing stockings and trinkets around the living room. It felt so weird to Rose that so much had changed in the span of almost ten months but she wouldn't have it any other way. She would have helped him but everything in her body currently hurt so she opted for just claiming the couch as hers.

"You're weirdly good at this." She noted as his face scrunched up in thought, trying to decide the best place for the glass ornate ball he was holding. "You could make a profession out of it!" Dimitri shook his head smiling.

"I'll keep it as my back up plan in case writing doesn't work out for me." He teased back not turning to look at her. Her sharp intake of breath caught his attention straight away though. "Everything alright?" He asked moving to kneel before her and Rose's face morphed into an expression of pain.

"I think so." She muttered rubbing a bit harder against her bump. "I have been having Braxton hicks all day but they seem to be getting stronger." She saw a flash of panic in his face before he schooled himself.

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" She shook her head, they had been in there enough already. The nurses had started joking that maybe she should just live the last weeks of her pregnancy in there.

"No. I'm fine." She assured him and sent him back to putting the tree together. It wasn't her time anyway, she had another two weeks.

* * *

They were supposed to meet Adrian and Sydney that night but Rose had called it off. She wasn't feeling well and all she wanted was to have dinner and go to bed early. Which wasn't really how the whole thing went down. By eleven pm she had realized that she wasn't having Braxton hicks and it was, in fact, the first stages of labor. She did not alarm Dimitri to it though, instead, she had started timing the contraction. There was no reason to stress him out so soon. She'd have all the time in the world to bust his balls about this later.

While Dimitri slept, Rose took a lukewarm shower, picked out her clothes and braided her hair away from her face. By the time the contractions started getting stronger, she was ready to go. Taking a seat beside Dimitri on the bed she leaned over him and run a hand through his hair. "Hey, daddy!" She nudged him softly.

"You okay?" He asked sleepily hugging his pillow closer to him.

"The baby's coming." She informed him in a calm voice. There were a few seconds of utter silence and it looked like he went back to sleep. Only for Dimitri's eyes to open and a look of panic to set in them. "Everything's fine." She assured him but Dimitri was already out of bed running around like he had lost his head.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Come, Rose." Dr. Olendzki encouraged her. "Just one more push, we're almost there!" Rose took a few shallow breaths before pushing again when she felt the contractions coming. "Relax, take a few seconds."

"I can't do this." She cried and Dimitri brought their laced fingers against his lips. "I really cannot do this." Halfway through labor, he had slipped behind her, letting her lean on him. It had calmed her down enough to focus on the task at hand.

"Another push for the shoulders, Rose." Dr. Olendzki called their attention back to her. "If the shoulders come out we're done."

"Do it for us, sweetheart." Dimitri murmured against her hair. "One more push and our baby is out." Focusing on his voice Rose gave it everything she had.

There was a piercing wail ripping through the air and then her life changed forever.

* * *

The Christmas lights Dimitri had put up were the only thing illuminating the living room as she laid between her fiancé's legs. Baby boy Belikov was resting against her chest, peacefully sleeping. They both watched as he took tiny breaths, his closed eyelids fluttering. Rose wondered for a moment what he could be dreaming about. He had been born ten days ago and they still hadn't found what to call him.

"He needs a name." She murmured, caressing the babe's back softly.

"What about Ibrahim?" He hummed placing a kiss against her hair.

"I like it for a middle name." Rose offered. "I'd like something else for his first name. Something that won't get him beaten up at school." She teased and Dimitri smiled. She loved her father, she adored the man with all her heart and wanted to honor his memory but his name was too old-fashioned for a baby.

"What about Alexander?" Dimitri offered. " Alex for short." Rose thought about it for a moment.

"Alexander Ibrahim Belikov." She tested the words out. "It's a bit long but I like." She admitted and watched as their son sighed in his sleep. "He seems to like it too." Dimitri's chest vibrated as he laughed quietly.

"I love you." He said finally, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

"I love you too." She returned, turning her head to the side searching for his lips. They had come a long way the two of them. They had walked through hell and fire to be where they were by they made it.

They had a loving family, a healthy baby boy and most of all they had each other.

 _~The End~_


End file.
